Search engine optimization can be competitive for small businesses looking to boost their web presence and attract more visitors and paying clients. Despite the difficulties some small businesses have with improving their local search engine optimization among larger businesses with greater resources, there are several simple steps that can help them stand out and improve lead flow, web traffic and ranking.

Establish A Local SEO Strategy

Competing with larger companies and their equally larger budgets can be almost impossible for small business owners and managers. But despite the overwhelming task of increasing positioning on major search engines without hurting the profit margin and seriously putting a dent the marketing budgets, small businesses can develop a clear plan to improve their success. Knowing where a small business excels and recognizing tasks that may be impossible are important tasks for decision makers, marketers and small business owners to understand.

Long Tail Search Terms

One of the best ways a small business can gain or improve search engine rankings is by targeting long tail search terms, small businesses can gain traction and improve their website on-page SEO without spending all of their budget on optimizing for just a few competitive short tail keywords and terms that still may not allow them to compete with larger companies. Long tail searches often include more specific phrases and keywords rather than the more broad, highly searched and competitive short tail searches.

Pinpoint Long Tail Terms with Specific Locations

Adding locations and geo-targeting search terms can be a valuable way for small businesses to improve their search engine optimization while showing up in search engine results for terms their audience members are searching. While a specific keyword may have high levels of competition, making it more difficult and costly to achieve positive results and rankings on the major search engines, adding a location to those keywords can help small businesses continue to target their audience and the keywords they are using while pinpointing their needs by location. Decreased competition among many keywords modified by geographic regions makes it more cost efficient and easier to rank in contrast with words and phrases highly coveted by large businesses.

Ranking well in you desired locations and cities where a product or service is offered can benefit small businesses in a big way, allowing them to continue to invest the time and money necessary to improve local SEO while showing up among the top pages of search engines for the local phrases and keywords their demographic are utilizing.

While search engine optimization can be more difficult for small businesses trying to stretch their marketing dollars, creating a plan and targeting more specific terms and locations can help them differentiate their businesses from other small businesses offering similar products, services and information. In addition, aiming to optimize for more specific search terms can help small businesses seek higher rankings without trying to compete with some of the endless marketing budgets of major companies.